When Life Stinks

A loved one dies … a friend betrays us … a child rebels … a baby is struggling for life .

Not too long ago I found myself in one of those places. A place that I couldn’t “fix.” A place that only God could handle. I had to ask myself, “How can I practically trust God and lay aside the worries of life while I work, and play, and try to relax?”

For me, the answer lies in Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV): “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

The Message, a Bible paraphrase, says it this way: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”

My tendency is to try to figure out things. To ask, “Why?” To do my best to understand.

And yet, whenever I am struggling to understand God’s plan, He asks me to do just one thing: simply trust. To pry what I consider to be overwhelming worries out of my flimsy hand and place them, so to speak, into His mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-able hand.

When I simply trust—whether at work, or at home, or at play—the result is always the same. God will do the behind the scenes work. He will weave things for His ultimate purpose (Romans 8:28). And He will give me peace (Philippians 4:7).